12 December 2023 02:51 pm Views - 2081
The drama flared up when Minister Wijesekera accused MP Premadasa of not allowing Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs to come for a meeting with him on reducing the electricity tariffs.
“I sent a letter to the opposition leader to send five of his MPs to a meeting I arranged to discuss the reduction of power tariffs starting next year. However, I received a letter from the opposition leader’s office saying the meeting should be held in the parliamentary complex. There was no time to arrange a meeting at the Parliamentary Complex by the time I received the reply from the opposition Leader. Some MPs like Ajith Mannaperuma were willing to come to the meeting if they were allowed to," Minister Wijesekara said.
"Arrange a meeting at the parliamentary complex if the Minister is able to figure out how many people were expected to participate in the meeting. The Minister avoided holding the meeting in another location deliberately to prevent the Opposition MPs from participating in the meeting. Also, the Minister had avoided the questions I raised about the recent power failure," Premadasa said.
"I have informed the Secretary General’s office that I need time to answer the questions raised by Premadasa, but I have not obtained time yet,” replied Minister Wijesekera.
Opposition Leader: "You can answer my question at any time. It is simple as that”.
Minister Wijesekera: We don’t rise in Parliament as and when we want, like a bull.